The Obama administration is asking federal regulators to free up more spectrum in an effort to make wireless broadband providers able to compete with the broadband offerings of wireline phone and cable companies.

After just six months on the job, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has taken the wireless industry to task on everything from VoIP apps to early termination fees. His first inquiry came less than a month and a half into his tenure when he asked Apple to explain why it rejected the Google Voice app.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has said he favors “fair rules” for an open Internet that recognize the difference between wireless and wireline networks. He’s also referred to such regulations as “rules of the road” that we need to survive in the age of the Information Superhighway.

The FCC is due to send a report on the plan for broadband services in the United States to the administration on or before Feb. 10, 2010. This plan has been in the works for months, and there are several Web sites dedicated to collecting input from all of us who care to comment.

Some U.S. senators want to set limits on Early Termination Fees (ETFs), but CTIA says the legislation is unnecessary because wireless carriers already pro-rate the fees for customers who end their contracts early.

For telco CFOs, going green must serve the overriding goal of making money for their shareholders. As such, energy - electricity, mainly - has significant direct costs for telcos, and these costs are rising, in some cases dramatically.